What Are The Chances The Sons Of Anarchy Spinoff Features Characters From The Original Show?

If it was up to me, FX would have another spinoff channel like FXX, but instead of devoting it all to comedy shows, it’s just a bunch of dramas that Kurt Sutter is working on. His next series, the sword-heavy historical drama The Bastard Executioner, starts up next week, but he’s already laying the groundwork for a future Sons of Anarchy spinoff that focuses on that show’s Mayan motorcycle club. And in describing what he wants the show to be about, Sutter seemingly left the door open for Sons of Anarchy characters to enter the spinoff at some point.

Here’s how Sutter describes what the Mayan-based project would be like, which is slightly different from what we were expecting.

I would do a contemporary piece, not a prequel, and place it far enough away from Northern California that it wouldn’t step on the mythology that’s already been told. It doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be some cool, ironic crossovers with familiar characters as the series progressed. I wouldn’t want to set it too close to the world we already know, and step on that. It would be cannibalizing what we worked very hard to create and I wouldn’t do anything to undermine.

When the spinoff was announced, I’d actually expected it to revolve completely around Alvarez and his crew, but it’s pretty awesome that Sutter is interested in telling a completely different story that doesn’t cheaply rely on everything he’s already built up. There are a lot of show creators and filmmakers out there who would be too quick to try and use past projects as a crutch to expand, rather than innovate. I mean, sure the Sons of Anarchy brand can be considered a crutch, but he’s not just trying to tell the same story over again. I’d love to see something happening with this show around Las Vegas, to see how Sutter would take on Sin City.

Given that I’d already assumed the spinoff would connect to the flagship series, I already dreamcasted some crossover characters for the new project, should it come to light. I mean, we’d have to get Alvarez in there, as he’s the face of the club in Oakland and perhaps beyond. And if Jimmy Smits doesn’t ever get to reprise his role as Nero before I die, my life will have been worthless. (Not really, but drama!) Unless flashbacks were used, we probably wouldn’t see any of the already decesased characters. But there are still plenty of SAMCRO bikers to go around.

Speaking with Deadline, Sutter said he conceived the spinoff while talking with FX’s President of Original Programming, Eric Shrier, and the two pondered how they could approach a series geared towards another demographic. For the project, Sutter would likely just form a basic outline for what he’d like and perhaps even pen (or co-pen) a pilot script before passing off showrunner duties to someone else so he could continue focusing on The Bastard Executioner. I trust him to find someone amazing to hand the reins to.

Sutter also spoke about what the eventual prequel series would be about, which you can read about here. But until either of these happen, be sure and tune into The Bastard Executioner when it premieres on FX on Tuesday, September 15.